Hydro costs $2mn extra for Peel hospitals

The extra cost of hydro in Peel hospitals is estimated to be in the region of $2 million a year. This was revealed by NDP leader Andrea Horwath recently through documents showing skyrocketing hydro bills in Ontario hospitals.

Horwath criticized the Liberal government for not providing relief to Ontarians and said the NDP is the only party that has a plan to cut hydro bills by 30 per cent for all consumers.

In 2016, Mississauga’s Credit Valley Hospital and two Trillium health facilities experienced more than $1 million increase in its hydro bills.

Trillium paid a total of $8,955,227 in 2015/16 electricity cost, which was $7,912,730 in 2014/15 — an increase of $1,042,497 in just one year. However, Trillium facilities last year consumed 937,110 KWH units more than the 2014-15 year.

“To help mitigate costs and maximize the funding that goes directly to patient care, Trillium Health Partners has taken a number of steps to ensure efficient energy usage such as LED lighting, high efficiency air handling filters and modernizing our air conditioning system.

In the north Peel Region, William Osler Health System (Osler) also paid close to $1 million more than the previous fiscal year for its two hospitals in Brampton and Etobicoke.

Its new Peel Memorial Centre for Integrated Health and Wellness facility was closed for redevelopment.

Osler’s total hydro bill in 2015/16 was $7,270,407 that was at $6,318,501 in 2014/15 — an upsurge of $951,906. Its total consumption in 2015/16 was 53,321,377 KWH as compared to 52,668,675 KWH in 2014/15.

Committed to ensuring efficient energy usage across its sites, Osler also has a strategy in place to implement several energy conservation measures including air handling upgrades, LED lighting and efficient boiler controls.

With health care costs increasing with each passing year, the rising cost of hydro in hospitals means an additional burden that comes out of the operating budget. – CINEWS